[Update: Bill 44 passed on November 24, 2022. See our blog post for details of the changes to the Strata Property Act.]
On November 21, 2022, Bill 44 was introduced in the BC Legislature. The Building and Strata Statutes Amendment Act, 2022 proposes changes to the Strata Property Act regarding rental and age restriction bylaws, electronic meetings, and more. Check the progress of recent Bills.
Highlights
No Rental Restrictions
- No rental restriction bylaws would be allowed in any strata corporations in BC.
- A developer would no longer be required to issue Rental Disclosure Statements and a strata would no longer be required to keep those records.
- (Existing wording unchanged) The strata corporation would not be able to screen tenants, establish screening criteria, require the approval of tenants, require the insertion of terms in tenancy agreements or otherwise restrict the rental of a strata lot.
Age restrictions
- Age restriction bylaws would be allowed for any ages 55 or greater.
- No other age restriction bylaws would be allowed.
- The age restriction would not apply to a caregiver who resides in the strata lot for the purpose of providing care to another person who resides in the strata lot and is dependent on caregivers for continuing assistance or direction because of disability, illness, or frailty.
Electronic meetings
- All strata corporations would be able to hold annual and special general meetings by telephone or other electronic means (no bylaw required)
- Issues with voting cards and secret ballots at electronic general meetings would be resolved by:
- The electronic means must enable the chair of the meeting to identify whether a person attending by electronic means is an eligible voter.
- There would be no requirement to issue a voting card to an eligible voter attending an annual or special general meeting by electronic means.
- An eligible voter attending an annual or special general meeting by electronic means would not be entitled or required to vote by secret ballot.
Pets
- The section about limits to pets would be reworded for clarification.
Additional information
- Stratas may continue to have bylaws that prohibit or restrict short-term rentals such as AirBnBs.
- Residential Tenancy Branch policy guidelines have now been updated to state that a strata corporation can issue a notice to end a tenancy and apply to the Residential Tenancy Branch for dispute resolution in place of the landlord.
Contact
If you have thoughts on these proposed changes, submit your comments to:
The Honourable David Eby, M.L.A., Premier of British Columbia: Premier@gov.bc.ca
The Honourable Murray Rankin, M.L.A., Attorney General and Minister responsible for Housing: AG.Minister@gov.bc.ca
Find contact information for your MLA.